Marikana Shootings Farlam Commission Thread

LazyLion

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Police did not Anticipate Mass Arrests

Police had not anticipated making as many arrests as they did during the Marikana unrest, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday.

"We had anticipated to arrest way less people," SA Police Service special tactical operations team head Maj-Gen Charl Annandale said in his evidence-in-chief at the Rustenburg hearings.

He said the police brought in five trucks, which could hold 170 detainees, during the unrest at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana in August.

A total of 259 people were arrested on August 16, the day the police opened fire on striking mineworkers gathered on a hill near the mine, killing 34 of them.

The commission, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the circumstances of these deaths, and those of the 10 people killed during the preceding week.

In a statement, public order policing analyst Gary White said the arrested could have provoked the protesters' anger and resulted in more fatalities and injuries.

He said police should rather have recorded the event and captured evidence, and returned later to make arrests.

Annandale rejected White's statement and said the police had tried to mitigate the risks.

"A recording wouldn't have protected the people," he said.

Police negotiations with the protesters would not have continued.

A threat had already been made, and the protesters' attitude had changed, said Annandale.

He said union leaders had failed to convince their people to lay down their arms, and there had been a drastic turn in the situation.

"If the group got into the informal settlement, they could have used innocent people as human shields... caused intimidation... damaged property," Annandale said.

He said there had been tension between two unions, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, and the police needed to take control.

The hearing continues.


Source : Sapa /nsm/jk/clh/th
Date : 24 Apr 2013 14:06
 

LazyLion

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Senior Cops were absent

Senior police officers were not at the scene where 34 striking mineworkers were shot dead in Marikana, the Farlam Commission heard on Wednesday.

Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who headed the police special tactical operations team during the unrest in Marikana, said he could therefore not give a direct account of the event.

"I was not there, [North West police deputy commissioner] Maj-Gen [William] Mpembe was in the helicopter and [provincial commissioner Zukiswa] Mbombo was in the [meeting] area," said Annandale.

He was delivering his evidence-in-chief before the commission in Rustenburg.

The commission, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the deaths of 44 people who were killed during the wage-related unrest in Marikana last year. Police shot dead 34 mineworkers on August 16 last year. Ten people were killed in the preceding week.

Annandale said he issued strict instructions for police videographers to record the Marikana dispersal and disarming plan.

He gave the instruction around 1.30pm on August 16. However the videographers had withdrawn from the area around 1.25pm.

During cross-examination several days ago, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega said the videographers claimed to have left because protesters thought they were police spies and threatened them.

On Wednesday, Annandale said he did not know the officers had withdrawn and thought his message had been conveyed to them.

"We thought they would have moved from where the other media personnel were," he said.

Annandale said police had also not anticipated other problems with recording equipment.

"We thought the cameras in the water cannon were in working order," he said.

He told the commission on Tuesday that one of the operators of the water cannons said he experienced technical difficulties in recording. Another said he forgot to switch on the camera when the police came under attack.

Annandale told the commission on Thursday Mbombo was not the operation's overall commander.

"It was General Mpembe," he said.


Source : Sapa /nsm/hdw/th/ks
Date : 24 Apr 2013 16:27
 

LazyLion

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Communication Problems

Police had not anticipated the communications difficulties they faced during the Marikana wage-related unrest, the Farlam Commission heard on Thursday.

SA Police Service Maj-Gen Charl Annandale said radios had malfunctioned and only a single channel was used for communications, resulting in constant radio traffic.

"We didn't foresee that such [a thing] would happen," Annandale said.

He explained that police officers were using two incompatible radio communications systems.

North West police officers were using the analogue radio system, while police from Gauteng, brought in to assist, were using the digital system.

Annandale headed the SAPS special tactical operations team during the unrest at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana in August last year, and was giving his evidence-in-chief before the commission in Rustenburg.

He said they tried to ensure there would be constant communication by giving the Gauteng police 83 of the analogue radios.

"Each vehicle had an analogue radio at its disposal," said Annandale.

However, the digital system was the better one.

"If I press the [talk] button [while on the analogue system] only I can talk through the radio and everyone else can just listen," said Annandale.

This meant the overall commander could not issue instructions over the radio if another person was talking on the channel.

The digital system, however, had the option of talking between two people or opening the line and allowing for mass communication, said Annandale.

Commission chairman, retired Judge Ian Farlam, said police should be working on fixing the radio communications problem.

"Don't wait for our report, deal with the problem now," said Farlam.

In response, Annandale said the matter was already being attended to. It would cost each province around R600 million to roll out the digital system.

"We are not waiting for the outcome of the commission. We've already identified this as a problem," he said.

The commission is investigating the deaths of 44 people killed during the wage-related unrest in Marikana last year.

Police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers on August 16. Another 10 people were killed in the preceding week.


Source : Sapa /nsm/jk/mjs
Date : 25 Apr 2013 13:17
 

daveza

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This commission should be about the crumbling police protocols, lack of training and equipment.

If those were all up to standard we would not have had the deaths of the strikers and we wouldn't now be wasting money when the circumstances of their deaths has long been obvious.
 

LazyLion

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Hearings Move Supported

Most parties involved in the Farlam Commission of Inquiry support a call for its hearings to be moved from Rustenburg to Pretoria, it heard on Friday.

The commission's chairman, retired judge Ian Farlam, was hearing oral arguments on the matter.

The commission is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 44 people in Marikana last year. Police shot dead 34 striking miners while trying to disperse them on August 16. Ten others died in strike-related violence the preceding week.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the evidence leaders, the families of the dead miners, and the injured and arrested miners told the commission they supported the move.

Dali Mpofu, for the arrested and injured miners, filed an application for the move in February.

He was opposed by the Bapo ba Mogale community and the royal family, represented by Karabo Kgoroeadira, and several local municipalities.

On Friday, Kgoroeadira submitted that allowing the indigenous people to attend the hearings formed part of their healing process.

Mpofu argued that the municipalities had shown little interest in the matter until now.

Kgoroeadira said a lack of information and a lack of transport contributed to the locals not attending the hearings regularly.

She said they had made a greater effort to attend since hearing that their poor attendance could affect the decision.

Lonmin already provided a bus service to the hearings in Rustenburg, and Mpofu said he hoped the mine would continue providing transport for locals if the move was granted.

Kgoroeadira told the commission the relocation could be considered as undermining the indigenous people.

"The relocation would be detrimental to the indigenous people, therefore I call for the application to be dismissed," she said.

Mpofu argued that most of the affected parties were based in Gauteng and were spending large amounts of money on travel and accommodation costs.

Some of the legal representatives, including Mpofu, were not being paid for their services.

Mpofu said the government was spending about R500,000 a month of taxpayers' money on the commission.

If predictions were correct, another R10 million would have been spent on the commission by the time it concluded its work.

The commission heard that around R300,000 a month in costs could be saved if it relocated.

Mpofu said the Commissions Act stated that a commission established by the president could sit anywhere in the country. Therefore, arguments that the move would violate jurisdiction laws were invalid.

Legal representatives for the mineral resources department also supported Mpofu's application.

The lawyers for the families of the deceased miners told the commission that if the hearings remained in Rustenburg, their funds would be exhausted by June 2013.

This meant they might no longer be able to continue with their representation.

Human rights lawyer George Bizos SC said the withdrawal of any legal representatives would result in a negative impact and outlook for the commission.

Farlam is expected to hold discussions with Justice Minister Jeff Radebe before making a decision on the move.

The commission continues on Monday.


Source : Sapa /nsm/hdw/jk/clh
Date : 26 Apr 2013 13:42
 

LazyLion

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Marikana Decision Taken Before August 16

A police decision to end a gathering of striking Lonmin miners at Marikana was taken before the fatal shooting on August 16, the Farlam Commission heard on Monday.

Evidence leader Geoff Budlender said this emerged in a Joint Operations Centre (JOC) briefing held at 1.30pm on August 16.

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nosaziso Mbombo had taken the decision and communicated it to her deputy the night before.

Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who led the police's special tactical operations team, said on Monday he could not comment on the discussion between Mbombo and her deputy Maj-Gen William Mpembe.

The commission is holding public hearings at the Rustenburg civic centre into the events at Marikana on August 16.

On that day, 34 striking miners were shot dead and 78 wounded when police opened fire on them while trying to disperse a group which had gathered on a hill near the mine.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed in strike-related violence near the mine.

Budlender referred to a video clip and press cuttings about the situation at Marikana before the 1.30pm meeting.

The video showed Mbombo talking at a press briefing in the morning, saying that police would ask protesters to disperse, and saying: "Today we are ending this matter".

In the press clippings, police spokesman Captain Dennis Adriao is quoted as saying: "Today, unfortunately, is D-Day".

Police had expected the miners to disarm on August 16, after Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mthunjwa urged them to do so. In the event, the protesters did not heed Mthunjwa's advice.

Budlender said in other evidence before the commission there were indications police only intended to move in on protesters, referred to as "stage three" of the plan, if the risk of violence escalated.

"In the event, a decision had already been taken to implement stage three, even though no escalation had taken place... that was a deviation from the original plan."

Annandale said crime intelligence reports, although vague, implied the situation had escalated.

He said the JOC meeting concurred with the decision to implement stage three.

"This was her advice. I want to say [if Mbombo] says you are going to do it this-and-this-and-this way, we would not have done it if we were not in agreement."

Budlender said it was unclear whether the trigger for stage three was the protesters' failure to disarm, or an escalation of violence.


Source : Sapa /mjs/hdw/th/ef
Date : 29 Apr 2013 15:07
 

LazyLion

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Police Threatened Senior Officer

Police officers threatened to kill Maj-Gen William Mpembe following the murders of two of their colleagues during the Lonmin wage-related unrest, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday.

They blamed Mpembe, who is North West deputy police commissioner, for the deaths of their colleagues, Lt-Col Solomon Vermaak said in a statement. The threats were made on August 13, 2012.

Police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers while trying to disperse a group on a hill near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana, North West on August 16 last year.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and security guards, were killed in strike-related violence. The policemen were hacked to death.

Vermaak's voice is reportedly that which the commission earlier heard on a recorded communication, from a helicopter, ordering police at Marikana to engage with the workers at the hill.

In his statement, Vermaak told the commission, sitting at the Rustenburg Civic Centre, that police had said Mpembe would lie down and die with the officers the strikers had killed.

He had advised that Mpembe be withdrawn from the area. However, Mpembe was not withdrawn.

Under cross-examination on Monday, Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who headed the police's tactical operations team at Marikana, said a final decision on whether to withdraw Mpembe would have been made by provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Zukiswa Mbombo.

George Bizos, SC, for the Legal Resource Centre and the Bench Marks Foundation, asked Annandale whether the threats could have resulted in Mpembe failing to conduct his duties.

"I had no reason to believe that he had been affected," Annandale replied.

The commission, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the circumstances of the 44 deaths.


Source : Sapa /nsm/th/clh/jk
Date : 06 May 2013 14:09
 

LazyLion

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Senior Cop had a hand in Murders

Miners arrested and injured at Marikana will argue that the police's tactical operations team head had a hand in the killing of their colleagues, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Tuesday.

Dali Mpofu, for the arrested and injured miners, was cross-examining police tactical operations team head Maj-General Charl Annandale.

"One of the things we'll argue is that you, Annandale, played a significant role in the events that led to the Marikana massacre," he said.

Police shot dead 34 striking miners while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana on August 16. The previous week, 10 people had died, two of them policemen and two of them security guards.

The commission, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths.


Source : Sapa /nsm/gq/jk/clh
Date : 07 May 2013 10:34
 

LazyLion

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Commission plans Second Phase

The second phase of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry is being planned and a number of possible topics are being discussed, it said on Tuesday.

A broad range of social issues could be relevant to the inquiry, the commission evidence leaders' head Mbuyiseli Madlanga SC, said in a statement.

The parties had been asked to submit topics they intended canvassing at the commission, which is chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam.

The commission is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 44 people -- 34 of them at the hands of the police -- in strike-related violence at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana, North West, in August last year.

Madlanga said it was necessary to plan the next phase to help evidence leaders decide the sequence in which topics would be addressed.

It would also help parties to the inquiry to know on which issues they could be questioned.

The commission had to decide which topics were relevant to its work and which matters should be referred to other organs of state for investigation.

The preliminary list of topics for the second phase includes: the composition of the protesters; the lived experience of mineworkers; housing and services issues; migrant labour issues; the stratification of the mining labour force; the impact of events at Impala Platinum and Lonmin's Karee Mine; Lonmin's history in platinum mining in the Rustenburg area; and its social policies and practices in relation to employees.

Also on the list are: the history of the conflict between the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union in the Rustenburg platinum industry; collective bargaining; violence; production; financial performance of platinum mining in general, and Lonmin's platinum mines in Rustenburg in particular; investment; and unsecured credit.

Other topics listed are: issues between the Bapo ba Mogale Royal Family and the community and Lonmin or the Lonmin mineworkers; the mining charter; security; the capacity of parties to engage the state in support of their positions in industrial disputes; allegations that police tortured people arrested on August 16; and the role of local, provincial, and national government under the Regulation of Gatherings Act; and the extent to which government complied with its obligations under the act in relation to events at Marikana.

Madlanga said the parties had begun exchanging documents and witness statements relevant to the second phase.


Source : Sapa /mjs/th/clh/jk
Date : 07 May 2013 14:07
 

LazyLion

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Union had no control over Strikers

Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa had no control over striking Lonmin mineworkers, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Tuesday.

"It was clear that Mathunjwa had no control of the situation," said Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who headed the police's tactical operations team in Marikana.

He was being cross-examined by Dali Mpofu, for the miners who were arrested and injured when police opened fire, killing 34 of their colleagues, while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana.

Mpofu asked Annandale whether he was aware that some of the miners gathered at the hill were there to hear Mathunjwa speak.

"Some were on the koppie [hill] to get feedback from Mathunjwa, as arranged the day before," said Mpofu.

He criticised the police for failing to wait for Mathunjwa to give them feedback after addressing them.

Photographs presented as evidence show the police putting up barbed wire barely three minutes after Mathunjwa left the hill at 3.40pm. In some of the photographs miners are seen making their way from the hill to their homes nearby. The police opened fire on the miners around 4pm.

Annandale said while that could have been true, other miners could have been there for different reasons.

Mpofu asked Annandale what had changed on August 16, as on previous days most of the striking mineworkers had dispersed and returned to their homes around 6pm.

Minutes from a police meeting held on the day of the shooting indicated that Annandale ordered the dispersal plan to be implemented at 3.30pm.

He said the situation had escalated.

"The media had also withdrawn itself out of fear for their lives. They relayed the information of a [change of attitude] by the miners to police official, [spokesman Captain] Dennis Adriao," said Annandale.

The commission, sitting in Rustenburg, is chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam. It is investigating the events surrounding the 34 deaths, and those of 10 more people in strike-related violence the previous week.


Source : Sapa /nsm/th/clh/dd
Date : 07 May 2013 14:31
 

R13...

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A 26 year old miner & survive of the shootings who was due to testify at the commission was apparently found hanging from a tree. SABC news reports. Police have opened an inquest docket :erm:
 

Albereth

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A 26 year old miner & survive of the shootings who was due to testify at the commission was apparently found hanging from a tree. SABC news reports. Police have opened an inquest docket :erm:

Is that number 3?

There was a witchdoctor, Dali Mpofu, and now this dude. Any others?
 

LazyLion

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Killing of Miner's was for revenge: Mpofu

Police shot dead striking Marikana miners out of revenge, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday.

"The reason why there was this frenzy and you drove all the way from Pretoria uninvited was sparked by the killing of the two policemen," Dali Mpofu, for the injured and arrested miners, told Maj-Gen Charl Annandale during cross-examination.

Annandale headed the police's tactical operations team during the Marikana unrest.

"Some of the actions were prompted... by revenge," said Mpofu.

Police shot dead 34 striking miners on August 16. Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the preceding week.

Mpofu asked why more police officials from other provinces were deployed to Marikana, in North West, only after the two policemen were hacked to death.

Annandale denied Mpofu's submission.

"There was no frenzy.... I went to Marikana to acquaint myself with the situation and to find out what resources were needed," said Annandale.

"The provincial commissioner asked me to stay on. It was later confirmed by the national police commissioner that I should stay and assist with these problems.

"[The deployment of more officers] was not a result of the two policemen's deaths. It was as a result of the escalation of the violence and the deaths of five people."

The commission is investigating the circumstances surrounding the 44 deaths near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana.


Source : Sapa /nsm/th/hdw/jk/clh
Date : 08 May 2013 13:51
 

Redeemed

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Prove that statement if you please.

Marikana: Freed miners speak of torture in police cells

On Monday, after a initial delay, the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrates Court began the process of releasing of Marikana miners who had been previously facing charges of murder and attempted murder. Outside the gates of the court, some of the first group of provisionally free miners told journalists that they had been tortured in police custody. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

After the police shot 112 striking miners at Marikana on 16 August, killing 34, they arrested 259 people and trucked them to various police holding cells in the North West and Gauteng. By 1 September, the number of arrested had increased to 270 following arrests in the squatter camp near the site of the shootings and of some people reportedly taken after being discharged from various hospitals in the area. During this time, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), the police watchdog, received numerous complaints alleging that police were torturing the arrested men.

On Monday, after being released from custody by the court following a decision by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to drop the most controversial of the charges, several of the miners said they had indeed been on the receiving end of brutal violence while in police holding cells.

Wilson Febane, a resident of Marikana and one of the first to be freed Monday afternoon, said that the police especially targeted those prisoners who used cell phones.

“We wanted to use the phone inside, but the police, they just take us outside and they beat us. They punch, they kick us. They say don’t look at us. I don’t understand how long time, but they kick us out,” he said.

“They make us stand out and they search us again. They say we must not look at them. Other of us they made us take off our clothes. It was not mine, but others.”

Another miner, who did not give his name, said that at the Bethanie police station in Brits he was made to stand against the wall with his hands above his head while the police beat him in the ribs with their bare hands and a stick. He witnessed others being slapped and having their fingers stomped on with boots.

When asked why the police did this, he said, in isiXhosa, “It was the cell phone. They were searching us when we arrived and somehow they missed my phone. Then they came into the cells and the phone was just lying on the bed. I didn’t hide it at all. They asked whose it was and they said it was mine. They were very angry but I said, ‘You searched me and missed it. I wasn’t going to point that out then because you were slapping and punching us’. But they beat me anyway.”

The prisoners were not mistreated at Pretoria Central Prison and the prison in Rustenburg, where they were transferred to after their first court appearance, two other men who had also just been released said.

None of the miners who were injured were among those who were released on Monday, but another two men said they had been told those men would be released at a later stage.

Though the police had shot 112 miners – killing 34 and wounding 78 – the NPA decided to charge the 270 arrested men with murder and attempted murder under the “common purpose” provision. The decision was widely panned in the public, and eventually the charges were dropped.

Due to an administrative mistake on the NPA’s side, releasing the miners from prison took most of the day, so that by 17:30 Monday, fewer than 50 men were actually out. Some 162 men were expected to walk free, while the state would continue to hold those whose addresses hadn’t yet been verified as well as those who were suspects in the murder of 10 people prior to August 16.

The magistrate assented to the bail conditions asked for by the state. The miners may now not do anything that will be seen as violence, intimidation, interfering with witnesses, or contravening the Regulations of Gatherings Act, the Firearms Control Act and the Dangerous Weapons Act.

Speaking afterwards, the freed miners said they would have to be careful not to be seen among the group of miners still on a wildcat strike at Marikana, lest they overstep the boundaries of their bail conditions. The prosecutor said police would take the men back to their homes, but the help was refused and the men got into 10 minibus taxis, allegedly provided for by Friends of the ANC Youth League, a group connected to Julius Malema.

The defence lawyers noted for the record in the court that they believed all charges against the miners should have been dropped.

“The press conference (of the prosecuting authority to announce the dropping of charges) was the result of presentations that we made to the justice minister, the national director of public prosecutions and the commissioner of police,” Dali Mpofu said. “We had said that all charges are incompetent. We understand that the hands of our colleagues were tied by the announcement made to the media. We don’t want it said at a later stage that we acquiesced to the other charges.”

The prison stint and the brutality at the hands of the police seem to have done little to stunt the demands of the men, though those we interviewed expressed almighty relief at being free at last. They will probably not rejoin the strike because their traditional weapons have been confiscated (and such an action might violate bail conditions) but the Friends of the ANC Youth League are carefully pointing their anger away from Lonmin PLC and to a new direction: President Jacob Zuma.

At the command of the man who came with the taxis, the free miners made the rolling hand gesture of change at the ANC’s Mangaung national conference for the television cameras, even as some said that they weren’t entirely sure what it meant. DM
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/arti...speak-of-torture-in-police-cells#.UYqpEssaySM
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/arti...turing-their-way-to-intimidation#.UYqpEMsaySM
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/arti...ice-torture-takes-central-stage/#.UYqpGssaySM
 

LazyLion

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Cops had Apartheid Mentality: Witness

Some of the police officers at the Marikana shootings retained an "apartheid mentality", the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Thursday.

"Maybe some of the people involved in the making of the decisions [at Marikana] had not unlearnt the methods of the apartheid police," submitted Dali Mpofu, for the arrested and injured miners.

"They perhaps used the skiet-en-donner [shoot and beat] approach," he said.

Mpofu was cross-examining Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who headed the police's tactical operations team in Marikana during last year's wage-related unrest at Lonmin's platinum mine.

Annandale, who joined the police in 1982, during the apartheid era, rejected Mpofu's statement.

"My colleagues and I, who joined the force prior to 1994, have already served 19 years in democracy. I've served longer in democracy than in the apartheid era.

"Even in the former regime, I worked according to my own values, taught to me by my parents, particularly based on respect," said Annandale.

"There was no skop-skiet-en-donner [kick, shoot and beat] approach," he said.

Mpofu referred Annandale to a statement made by Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa shortly before the police opened fire on striking miners.

Mathunjwa advised strikers to disperse from a hill where they had gathered, and said they would be killed as the life of a black person was cheap.

"I don't know what Mathunjwa based his opinions or views on. This wasn't my mentality, neither did I detect it from any of my colleagues," said Annandale.

The commission, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 44 people -- 34 of them at the hands of the police -- in wage-related unrest near Lonmin's platinum mine, in Marikana, in August.

The public hearings are being held at the Rustenburg Civic Centre.


Source : Sapa /nsm/hdw/jk/clh
Date : 09 May 2013 14:08
 
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